A Rewarding Journey Has A Name....

A Rewarding Journey Has A Name....
Founded in year 2000, Discovery Overland Holidays was set-up by the concoction of two corporate executive connoisseur’s who had with them at that time, more than 10 years of leisure and corporate travel experience.

Friday, 9 March 2012

THE 4TH Putrajaya International Hot- Air Balloon Fiesta 2012 is well on its way to taking off next week. The annual fiesta, running from March 15 to 18, will be held at Monumen Alaf Baru at Precinct 2 in Putrajaya. Twenty-six hot-air balloon teams from 12 countries have confirmed their participation in this year’s fiesta.

Among the international balloonists who have confirmed participation in this year’s fiesta are Francis Godfrey Prell from the United States with his birthday cake-shaped balloon and Rick Walczak from New Zealand with his kiwi bird-shaped balloon. Other foreign participants coming from Europe and America are Filip Audenaert, Michael Lambert and Benoit Simeons from Belgium; Alain Claude from France; Guido Fullois from Germany; Peter Van Harten and Daan Elfring from the Netherlands; Adrian Held from Switzerland; David Griffith from the United Kingdom; and Gary Moore, Derek Hancock and Frank Wechter from the United States. Coming from Asia are Benedict Savio, Imo Singh and Syed Karimulla from India; Tawin Dumkhum and Rapee Kornkosiyakart from Thailand; and Tran Minh Quoc, Nguyen Quoc Truong and Nguyen Cong Luan from Vietnam. Of course, the fiesta will not be complete without Malaysia’s very own homegrown balloonists, including Mohd Sobri and Khairudin himself (or Captain Rudy as he is more commonly known in the international ballooning fraternity).

Every morning, from 7am to 9am, over the four days of the fiesta, these balloonists will participate in a Hare and Hound competition, which is being held for the very first time in Malaysia. For the competition, one pre-determined balloon, known as the ‘hare’ will take off first.The other participating balloons in the competition, known as the ‘hounds’, will then be launched at pre-determined intervals after the hare. The hare balloon then lands on a suitable site and lays out a large piece of fabric at the landing spot. The hound balloons then attempt to drop their markers as close to the centre of the fabric as possible. The closest marker which achieves the highest score wins the competition.

The fiesta will also see the return of the widely-talked-about and highly-anticipated Night Glow event on March 17, when the balloons light up in a synchronised manner to the sound of music, culminating in a fireworks display.

Raptor Watch is organised by Malaysian Nature Society, is a festival to celebrate the return of the migratory birds of prey or better known as raptors on their journey back to their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. Raptor Watch is a public event meant to raise awareness on the conservation of raptors and their habitats.

RAPTOR HUNT(treasure hunt) and GREENaid , a concert by musicians passionate about our natural heritage and our conservation efforts. Nature guided walks and talks are planned out for both days, The Great Green Clean Up, an initiative by Green Living asking you to help clean up designated locations and exciting games for both adults and children including repelling.

Migration period

RW is held annually on the first weekend of March. For the year 2011 the event is held on March 12 & 13 (Saturday & Sunday).

Best time to watch raptors Best time to watch the raptors will be between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. In the past there have been records of birds flying as late as 6 p.m. The reason why raptors choose to fly during the hottest period of the day is because they need thermals.

Organisers

The event is organised by Malaysian Nature Society in partnership with the Malacca State Government.

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

The organizing of the Penang World Music Festival 2012 has been given another boost with the inclusion of Discovery Overland Holidays as its Official Tour Operator.

Discovery Overland Holidays (DOH), Malaysia's leading specialist tour operator, will be packaging the festival as part of its tour packages and programs to be marketed worldwide. With its network operations in 9 branch offices in Singapore, Bangkok, Phuket, Koh Samui, Kuching, Kota Kinabalu as well as Penang, Langkawi and Kuala Lumpur, Discovery Overland Holidays' festival packages will further boost the promotion of the festival overseas.